jonw@azure.UUCP (02/23/84)
David Norris has proposed a possible solution for the omniscience/free will
contradiction:
...suppose that there are two possible futures for you
based on the result of a (free-will) decision.
Assume again, that God (omniscient) sees both of these futures at once. To
make this work, we will have to assume that God sees an infinite number of
futures. Question(s):
1) Does this violate any Christian concept of God that I am not
aware of?
2) Does this also violate the existence of free will, as
Byron/Darrell/Jon see it? If so, why?
I'll leave question #1 for someone else to answer, but I will take a stab at
the second question. Even if God created the universe such that each of us
had two possible futures based on a free-will decision (or even better, an
infinite number of futures based on an infinite number of free-will decisions),
God would still have created the entire lifetime of the universe at the moment
of creation. He still, by the definition of omniscience, exists in "our" past,
present, and all possible futures. And (as I have pointed out before) if He
exists in all of the possible futures, those futures are out there for Him to
exist in. Of course, He knew exactly which future each of us would end up
with even "before" creation.
So you see, David, you won't be able to resolve the contradiction until you can
explain how God can exist in the future without having already created it.
Jon White
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